A bit about me should lead us back to this deck. So I began playing EDH when the first Commander Decks released. I immediately picked up Kaalia of the Vast's Commander deck as it looked like the type of deck I'd play. It also quickly turned into fatties Kaalia and was fun to play. Shortly there after I put together Gaka'sNorin the Wary build, modifying it to my meta. About this time I started to move Kaalia to a more control based strategy 1v1 build (MLD, discard, etc). This was also when the C13 decks released. Kaalia and Norin both played similarly in that they were giant middle fingers to my opponents. I dumped Norin and replaced him with Nekusar, the Mindrazer. Nek went the wheel and discard route. He became rather fast at nuking the table, I could outrace creature strategies with my sheer damage output. Then I noticed something. Playing these decks was becoming less and less fun. While the strategies were rather linear, the way to get there was not. The builds were simple, yet complex. I started hearing more and more groans when either deck showed up to games. EDH was no longer fun for those around me, which made it not so fun for me. So I stepped back and decided to reassess what it was about EDH that made me fall in love with the format. My first love of MtG was Necropotence. I ran Mono-B for as long as I could remember. I had been picking up the Commander deck sets since the second release and decided that I wanted to start from the piles of decks I had. I then came across Ob Nixilis (Obby). I sleeved up the precon and took it to my LGS. The games that were played were rather fun, for all parties involved. It was then that I decided that I will force Obby as my Commander and make this work.

Initially, it was just a pile of cards that had some synergy (the precon), and it wasn't horrible. Though, I needed to focus the deck and give myself some rules so as to not fall into the hole that Kaalia, Norin and Nek fell into: Oppression of the Opponent(s). I took so much away from that first game that I was actually ecstatic to be building a deck again. I then gave myself as set of "rules" to follow as the deck iterated to its current state (I plan to stay true to this as well):

Let's use sub-par cards: Not all the card here have to be "good". During my testing I found that if I don't play "Kill me" cards (Sheoldred, Whispering One is an example), I tend to be left alone. If a card alone will make me a target, I'll find something else to play.

No infinite combos: This is a meta call (my LGS is not fond of these) but it also goes hand in hand with trying to stay away from oppressive cards/plays.

Nothing that can lead to oppressive plays: This one is harder to gauge as it is really a relative term. If a combo/card/play makes people groan, it has a high potential to be cut.

The most important thing is to have fun: I try to get the input of my opponent(s) after each game to get their thoughts. If nothing comes up as "when you did [x], that sucked" then all is well.

This is the core of what I want Obby to be. No deck is perfect, but Obby is really close to keeping with what I want to play and to have fun with.

For all intents and purposes, I have no budget on what I could spend on a card. Though I would rather keep the cost of single cards low. I do have a lot of cards that are pricey, so if you have any kind of suggestion, I'm all ears. If something else comes up or I have further thoughts, I'll update this post. If you do have suggestions, try to elaborate on why a card is good/bad as I'd like to get a better understanding of things. Thanks again for reading/helping me make Obby better. I'm not opposed to running combos in the deck. I'd rather stay away from those of the infinite type (though I don't mind suggestions either as it might trigger an idea) since my meta/LGS does not like those.

Cards listed with * next to them are currently swapped with a card from within the "Currently Testing"

The object is to start one of a few combos to get the "engine" going either generating tokens, stealing life, blowing things up, tutoring for things, drawing cards or a combination of these.

Nim Deathmantle Combos: A sac outlet or casting of the cards will be where this starts. Once the creature dies, pay 4 to activate Deathmantle's ability to bring that creature back. This card makes all the following cards crazy when you can repeat so long as you have mana and sac outlets. It isn't necessary to keep Deathmantle in play if it gets destroyed. If you are able to get 1 use out of it, you are fine. The deck runs smoother with this, but its not necessary.

+ Sidisi, Undead Vizier: This one is the best as Sidisi is her own sac outlet. Exploit Sidisi to her own ability as she ETB. The last exploit after you run out of mana can target a token or junk creature. You will tutor all the things with this combo.
+ Rune-Scarred Demon: Tutor all the things. While not as good as Sidisi tutor, this one works fine as well. Either find Sidisi, or find something to bring Sidisi back.
+ Gray Merchant of Asphodel/Kokusho, the Evening Star: Multiple sac outlets are required to win with these 2. Gary can easily get out of hand and can kill with 2 cycles. This is where incremental damage comes in handy (Obby's +2, turning dudes sideways, etc)
+ {c]Grave Titan[/c]/{c]Abhorrent Overlord[/c]: Make all the tokens. While the Titan's tokens are stronger, Overlord just makes more of them. They are evasive too. If left unchecked, these 2 can get out of hand rather quickly. The critters the overlord makes aren't hasty, but that doesn't mean you can't do this on opp's EOT. Again, multiple sac outlets will be needed to use more than once.
+ Noxious Gearhulk /Overseer of the Damned: Blow up all the things. Well, creatures that is. Overseer makes zombies with each critter popped. Gearhulk gives life. Use whichever you need to not lose.
+ Phyrexian Delver: Need a way to bring things back. Deathmantle this guy. He does hurt if used too many times, but there are other ways to regain that life lost back.
+ Disciple of Bolas: Mixing this guy in the chain, or using him to get it started is fun times. Fill you mitt with cards to keep going. You gain some life too.
+ Solemn Simulacrum: You get 2 triggers off of this guy's death. Draw AND find a Swamp. This is really good when one or more mana "doubler" is in play as each ETB trigger gets you 2+ more mana. Still solid without those cards.

I've actually got a good portion of the deck "ready to cut", but it really is dependent on what is replacing it and what is no longer on theme.

Due to my ability to recur critters, creatures that have a decent spell-like ability tacked on will have higher value than, say, a spell that does the same thing for less. I have noticed the deck's ability to generate big mana really fast even without mana rocks. Coffers and Magus, Nykthos, and thier ilk can create absurd amounts of mana but require time. I don't want to focus too much on Life as a resource (just yet), but the deck can't be hurt by it as it gives me a secondary win-con outside of turning dudes sideways.

Volrath's Stronghold|Phyrexian Reclamation: These cards are great. I essentially used Stronghold to bring back my board after wiping it with Mutiliate. It might be worth it to investigate other repeatable recursion like this. Which would mean that I'd be more willing to play mass removal. My meta is very light on Grave Removal, so the grave is a great resource for me.

Tragic Slip: With all the creatures I tend to bin myself, the Morbid side of the card is always active. This is good removal for those pesky Colossi or other big fatties.

The incremental life steal from cards (Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath, etc) were instrumental in getting him to 14 prior to my attack. It helps for when I can get to the end game. Also, I did have Obby's Emblem active. That makes for a quick way to fill up my hand while binning things like Kokusho repeatedly. I really like the "kill my own stuff" aspect of the deck. Having 6+ tokens (+2 that Titan pooped out on the attack) that were expendable makes me want to up the Token them as well. Tokens don't trigger Grim Haruspex, but I sac my own non token all willy-nilly as well. That Bitterblossom is looking more appealing now. The single targeted x-spells (drain life, etc) may not be as good in multiplayer games, but the likes of Siphon Soul seem like potential inclusions as well. The best part of that game was, even though he lost, the Trostani player enjoyed the game. I may have found my new pet deck.

I've got most any black Tutor you can think of, I'm just not sure that's the route I want to take. I've enjoyed how each game has played out completely different. I may end up putting Rune Scarred Demon in since he's a creature, thus making him reusable.

When I test, it's usually against one deck. This is meant to be a multiplayer deck, so truly evaluating cards is a bit more difficult. It works moreso against decks like mine, but when I play against a really tuned deck I concentrate more on how/why my deck is losing and not the cards I'm playing.

With that being said, I played some games against a very tuned Jhoira of the Ghitu deck. I learned a lot about my deck's pitfalls. I have no early game. While Jhoira is dropping rocks and suspending threats, I'm playing a land and passing the turn. This deck can generate absurd amounts of mana, but mostly not until t5-t6 via Cabal Coffers, Magus of the Coffers, and Nykthos, Shrine to the Nyx. While I do like the fact that in a multiplayer game this would make me seem harmless, I am also vulnerable. I need more card draw (I'm gonna shy away from tutors for now), some small, fast threats and efficient mana rocks. I learned that once I do have a mana marker online, I become a big threat. Ob Nixilis's Emblem also turns me into a threat. It's quite possible that I will be playing this on Tues in a multiplayer setting so I plan on quite a few changes before then. I'm still working some of the first details out, so I'll plan for some temp changes before then.

I understand I'm essentially talking to myself here, but maybe this will spark some random reader's interests. I also enjoy just spewing any data I have as some of this can pertain to more than just Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath

Over the past few days I've been theory crafting what may or may not work. I have an idea of what cards I'm wanting to keep, but I'm still not 100% sure if those cards are right so I'll wait to post the skeleton from which I'm working. I do have a doc going keeping track of my testing, changes, and any other logs pertaining to this deck. As well as potential cards I'm looking to test or ones I'd like to run. So on to the first round of Cards to test this week. I'll try to give reasons why I cut or am testing a card. For now, I'd like to keep at least 25% creature density.

Barren Moor > Temple of the False God: As I've stated, anytime I've drawn the cycle lands I always wished they were something else. Temple just makes it the deck less slow. I think I'm fine with this being a final change as well.Polluted Mire > Ancient Tomb: See above. Essentially the same reasonsSudden Spoiling > Night's Whisper: Spoiling has been a dead card anytime I've drawn it. I like the effect, but over all it is just "meh". Whisper helps with doing stuff in the early game. I get to go deeper into my deck to find answers or threats.Phyrexian Gargantua > Phyrexian Arena: Gargantua is just too much mana for the effect. I'm not sure I like Arena here, but I like the repeatable draw. Digging is what I want to be doing.Swamp > Mana Crypt: 40 lands is a bit much, especially if I plan on dropping the overall curve down. Crypt also speeds me up a couple fo turns. We'll see if this is a good change or not. Ghost Quarter > Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth: Without Crucible, Ghost Quarter is not so good. Especially in multiplayer. I thought I had Urborg in here, but apparently not. So this is most likely a permanent change.Lashwrithe > Nevinyrral's Disk: This card was not in my above list. Interesting card, but I'm not sure I like it. Disk gives me some needed permanent removal. Testing this since the 4 for 4 cmc swap is easy.Jet Medallion > Mox Diamond: When I'm generating tons of mana, Medallion is only SLIGHTLY useful cutting all my spells by 1. Usually at that point, it isn't quite necessary. I'd rather have the Diamond here. I still like the medallion, I just feel if this change were to be permanent I'd be ok with it.Worn Powerstone > Everflowing Chalice: I like that Chalice can get bigger with the amount of mana I put into it. With my big mana lands, this gets quickly out of hand. Other wise, I think it is still better than Powerstone.Nantuko Shade > Animate Dead: Yes Shade gets bigger and he's good fuel for Ob's emblem, but he has no evasion. So, not really all that great. Animate Dead can be anything from anyone's grave. I like cards that give me options.Vampire Hexmage > Reanimate: Hexmage is useful as a reusable Planeswalker killer, so this one is a potential test slot. Hexmage may make a return as a superfriends deck is part of my meta. As is Narset.Phyrexian Rager > Erebos, God of the Dead: Rager is fun when he can be reused. Erebos is reusable on his own. This change was a no brainer for me. Butcher of Malakir > Abhorrant Overlord: 7CMC bomb for a 7CMC bomb with a more relevant effect. I like the tokens strategy a bit more, and the Butcher effect is not as useful in my meta. This is just testing to see if the token theme is really worth investigating. It's possible that butcher may come back in if I keep the overlord, but for now this swap seems fairly easy.Spoils of Blood > Bitterblossom: Not too much in the way of resets in my meta, so spoils is not as appealing. It poops out a 1/1 every turn. IF this sticks, Skullclamp will definitely make it in here. For now, I like the sound of the 'blossom.Æther Snap > Gate to Phyrexia: Snap is fun, but too narrow for me. Gate gives me a reusable sac outlet AND arty kill. Something black is weak against. Most of the time, snap has been a dead card for me.

Before I delve into the game-stuffs, here are some observations. Ob Nixilis's +2 is just stupid in a 6 man game. +5 life per activation is nothing to scoff at. Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief is not going anywhere. She was the allstar of the game, keeping an animated Erebos in the Command Zone after he decided to attack me while I had upwards of 20 mana available. The few mana rocks I am running, helped out dramatically. I was able to jump a few turns due to early Mox Diamond, Sol Ring and Ancient Tomb. I may have to begin to add tutors in because a Phyrexian Reclamation is a damn powerhouse. The deck just gets out of hand easily while this is in play. My early token generation via Obby, Bitterblossom and Ophiomancer work as a nice deterrent. I run out of gas too easily. I drew not a single way to draw AFTER everybody's hand was ripped away. Tutors MAY (?) help with this allowing me to get my draw spells. Apparently milling is becoming a thing in my meta, so I need to get an Eldrazi Titan or a colossus in there. Shriekmaw can't hit black or arties and Malicious Affliction can't hit black. I'm ok with these 2 as one is a decent beatstick and the other can hit arty creatures (2 if a creature dies beforehand). I really need to get Lightning Greaves and Swiftfoot Boots in there since having to wait to activate any of my non-hasty tappers (Gisa, Magus, Helldozer) is too risky. Though, Helldozer may come out to test Sorin MarkovHomeward Path needs to make its way in as well as Expedition Map. Crypt Ghast's Extort gets out of hand rather quickly, as does his "make extra mana" ability. Nirkana Revenant WILL be in the next round of testing. The only change that I missed was Jet Medallion. On more than one occasion I needed just one more mana to cast stuff AND leave mana open for Unstable Obelisk. Even though its ability is costly, it allows me to remove problem permanents.

The first few turns are just everyone setting up their game plans. Geth gets a quick Blinkmoth Urn. By this point I have 4 artifacts in play (Mox Diamond, Sol Ring, Commander's Sphere and Mindstone) so I'm dropping my threats really early. Arcane Lighthouse allows me to kill boots equipped Jalira and Thopter Assebly with Malicious Affliction after saccing a Zombie to activate Phyrexian Tower. Erebos has not hit the table yet so I'm at something like 60 life (Ancient Tomb and the occasional 5/5 demon off of Obby are keeping my life at bay). A resolved Myojin of Night's Reach had it's divinity counter removed immediately crippling everyone. I begin using Volrath's Stronghold to rebuild my boardstate by bringing Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief, Ghoulcaller Gisa and Kokusho, the Evening Star. The Blinkmoth urn is generating me 6 mana a turn, so casting things is not all that hard. 5c, Trostani, and Jalira are doing nothing. At this point with an active Gisa I begin to cycle Kokusho in and out of the grave netting 5 2/2 Zombies a turn. Everyone is in the teens except me, I'm in the 70's (Erebos finally stuck so I've gained no life from my Koku and Obby). Then the board wipes begin. First well all bounce our stuff. Then Terminus hits everyone but me, as I kill my creature to use them from the grave. Then Mutilate. Then Ixidron. Then All is Dust. Jalira drops a Mesmeric Orb, which I'm ok with. Erebos takes the opportunity to end Geth. Then drops Exquisite Blood and Sculpting Steel's the orb. I keep mis-counting my mana, tapping (missing Jet Medallion here) 1 mana too much each time so that I can't activate Unstable Obelisk. I actually do it 3 times (facepalm). This game has turned into Me vs Erebos. The others are spent. 5c drops a Sorin Markov and is about to hit me with it when he realizes that he doesn't want to give 60 life to Erebos, so hits erebos with the minus ability. He hits Erebos for 7 after that. On my turn I kill the Exquisite Blood and sac Kokusho to Gisa ending Erebos and Jalira. Trostani drops Phyrexian Processor for 20 life, Doubling Season, and makes a token then doubles it. 5c tutors for Humilty thus forcing my scoop (my Nevinyrral's Disk was milled away with not way to recur it and it was a 4 hour game at this point). Trostani loses during 5c's next turn.

That was essentially the game. Some of the minor details are lost, but that is essentially how it all went.

I played some games over the weekend against Kaalia (1v1 MLD build/3drinks build) and have a few thoughts. I honestly expected this to be a bloodshed against me so I mainly planned on figuring out my decks overall weaknesses. This was not the case. Of 3 games, Kaalia won not once. I think this is attributed to 3 factors: 1) the pilot was unfamiliar with the deck (he's seen me pilot it, but that is different than piloting it), 2) bad hands/shuffles (in 2 of the games he went down to 3 cards as he drew NO lands, which I eventually just had him reshuffle and draw 7 to play the testing games), and 3) I exploited the deck's/pilot's weaknesses (since it is my deck and an inexperienced pilot, I used that to my advantage).

Game1: Kaalia get stuck at 3 mana. An early Sol Ring and Ancient Tomb allow me to jump a few turns and start dropping bombs. Gisa gets quickly removed as does Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief. Though the 5/5 Flying Demons that Obby Poops out kept Kaalia at bay. By the time Kaalia starts dropping her bombs via casting, I've gone lethal.Game2: Kaalia comes into play fast, but no haste. I Tendrils of Corruption her. He casts her again next turn and I Tragic Slip her after activating Phyrexian Tower. I top deck Overseer of the Damned after his next cast and can cycle him in and out of the grave each turn. He scoops to my horde of 2/2 flying Faeries, 3/3 Zombies and 6/6 flying demons thanks to Bad Moon.Game 3: This game Kaalia gets a good start but I muck up the sky with turn 2 Bitterblossom. My 5/5 Demons are fending off the attacks after my Blossom is popped. Eventually he gets Yosei, the Morning Star in play and attacks into me. Either he kills it or I kill it, but either way he tapps me down then Armageddon drops. It hurts me but I kill Kaalia so he doesn't keep the bombs falling. I remain tapped out, but I have Obby pooping out demons still, and Overseeer of the Damned active. I have also been palming lands because I knew I shouldn't overextend in lands because of the MLD. I make quick work of his life total.

I REALLY need to revamp the build to include tutoring. Because I'm adding the tutor package (not sure which ones yet), I can rely less on the card draw (though I may still try Greed). Having an active sac outlet (Ghoulcaller Gisa/Phyrexian Tower) and Phyrexian Reclamation (or, to a lesser extent, Volrath's Stronghold) puts the deck into overdrive. My meta is soft to grave recursion even with TWO The Mimeoplasm decks floating about. I did test with Kozilek, Butcher of Truth, and he was fantastic. So I intend on dropping he and Ulamog the Infinite Gyre in both for their abilities AND the shuffle effect. Expedition Map is an interesting land tutor to find me a utility land, mana land, Tower or Stronghold. I will be testing Codex Shredder. Even though its abilities are relevant (both of them), I'm not sure it will be worth running in the 99. I want my "creature" density to be no less than 25%. I have the quotes there because Bitterblossom, Animate Dead, and the like are psuedo-creatures. I will probably be sitting down to trim the deck down and add in the extras that I want to test.Overall, I'm becoming more and more happy with the deck. Mox Diamond really hasn't been that great and when I get going I will be casting multiple spells a turn, so Jet Medallion will most likley make its way back into the deck in the Diamond's slot.

Edit: While playing the multiplayer games, I had noticed that I'm never the target. Even when I have giant threats on the table. I had considered playing Sheoldred, the Whispering One, but that makes people take notice of me. I like not being the target until it is too late. I may work that angle since that allows me to get away with more.

I'll try to set aside some time to update my list. I'm glad SOMEONE other than me is reading these. I'll try to set aside some time to update my list. I've been tinkering quite a bit trying to fit the Tutor package in, that I'll have to break it apart then put it back together. Since I've dismantled Nek and Kaalia, I should be able to devote quite a bit of time to Obby.

It looks good man. Have you updated your OP yet? I think that would help me to suggest cards or strategies so I don't have to keep track of your changes in the posts.

By the way, I love the game reports. That's one of my favorite things to read in these forums, whether you've won or lost because it allows us to get a glimpse of how your deck plays out. So thanks for that.

I'm working on the change-log changes as well as updating my decklist in GDocs before updating the post. Maybe board will get the tutors i have as well as a few other items. I have many other thoughts i want to get down as well.

I've updated the OP with my current decklist as well as the change log and the beginning of the next phase. Adding Tutors. I would also like to minimize the amount of non creatures I'm running since this deck seems to do better when I run that type of deck. I could be wrong. I'm still testing. It may be a while until i do a proper test, but this is where I'm starting.

In a couple of weeks I'll be headed to my LGS to play some EDH. Well more like 11 days. Anywho, I'm back on with wanting to tinker with Obby a bit for that night. Firstly I want to start with the cards I'm considering and why.

First i want to start with the tutor package. I don't need to run all of them, but something to allow me to find something in a pinch would be nice to have. These are the current tutors I have access to.Vampiric Tutor: 1 mana, instant, and can find any card? Sign me up. The 2 life is negligible as I always chewing up my own life anyway. I'm not fond of the "put on lib top" clause, but that can be used as an advantage.Demonic Tutor: Sorcery speed being the only draw back.Cruel Tutor: "Fixed" Vampiric Tutor. Still really good at 3 mana and sorcery.Beseech the Queen: I can find most any card in my deck with 5 lands in play. Good card for BBB.Diabolic Tutor: "Fixed" Demonic Tutor. Still really good. drawback is that it is 4 mana to cast.Rune-Scarred Demon: Demonic Tutor on a 5/5 flying body? Yes please. His 5BB cost is the only thing keeping me away from him. I can generate absurd amounts of mana, but I don't want to make the deck too top heavy. Especially if I do finally toss the Eldrazi titans in.

Grim Monolith: I can avoid having to drop my curve a bit with mana rocks like this. This card worked wonders in my Nekusar deck. Like Sol Ring and Mana Crypt, the added mana pushes me further into the game to start dropping bombs.Kozilek, Butcher of Truth: Testing shows that this guy is great. Finding a spot for him and Ula will be difficult. Since I do work the graveyard a bit, dumping him off to Ghoulcaller Gisa or Phyrexian Tower in response to 'yard removal can be done in a pinch. 10 mana is not a number that is difficult for this deck to achieve.Ulamog the Infinite Gyre: I've not tested with Ula yet in Obby, but I have used it in other decks. Awesome card. All upside like Kozi.Homeward Path: This is a double edged sword. On the one hand I can get my stolen stuff back (reanimated or bribed). On the other hand, I lose anything I've stolen (reanimated). I may test to see if I'm happy with it or not.Soul Exchange: This is a rather interesting card. I don't like the exile clause, but that's what tokens are for. For 2 mana, this is a very strong effect.Haunted Crossroad: While this card is not Phyrexian Reclamation, it is a decent substitute. I'd like to try it out to see if it is actually worth playing or not. My initial thought is "not", but I need to be sure.Nirkana Revenant: Moar mana. That is all.Death Denied: X spell return to hand from grave? This card is really strong. I'd like to know if it is actually terrible here or not.Sword of Light and Shadow: This thing was excellent in Kaalia. Why not Obby? Being able to return a binned critter is the reasoning for trying it out. The life gain is nice as well since the deck is really good at chewing up your own life total.

I've not decided what cards are not worth playing in the current deck and if I can replace them with cards I'm considering. As with the last batch of changes, I may just pull out cards and drop some in to see what happens. Off the top of my head, these are the cards that I'm not fond of in the deck:

I've honestly not really had a look at BFZ, Origins and tarkir block for suitable cards. I will probably spend the next few days digging over cards lists and modifying the deck until something happens that I like. Mostly just theory crafting until I can actually test against some decks. Suggestions and criticisms are wanted here as I want to get this thing ready in the next week. I especially like when a strategy or card/set of cards are off the beaten path as I'd like to keep my deck looking underpowered. I like being the secret threat.

[edit]
Going through BFZ here are the cards that interest me:Smothering Abomination: This will trigger off or Sidisi, Undead Vizier, Ghoulcaller Gisa, Phyrexian Tower, and itself. While I don't think this is anywhere near as good as Harvester of Souls, it can trigger off of tokens. The downside being only my sacrifices will trigger the draw. The 2BB cost is nice as well.Ob Nixilis Reignited: He's rather interesting. He doesn't fit the theme of the deck so much that he's Obby PW v2. The card draw is decent. The creature kill is nice. His ult is meh. Blighted Fen: Interesting card. Not sure it is good or is on theme. Just seems interesting.

Temple helps with the added redundancy. As with Vesuva and the like, I'd like to tighten the rest of the list before really tinkering with the manabase. Not sure I want to go infinite here, but that is an interesting thought.

I'd love a populate-like ability in here as creating the Demons isn't really hard for the deck. So making more would be fun. I generate an absurd amount of Demons, Zombies and Harpies when I try. Faeries, not so much, but they are essentially my biggest sac fodder as they are generated every turn.

As for Bad Moon, I accidentally forgot to add it to the cuttables. It's nice with the tokens as they get out of hand when I'm not held in check. Otherwise, it is just meh. With a critical mass of tokens, making them bigger just seems pointless.

Here's why I like Jet Medallion, it allows me to "go off sooner" and since I usually am casting multiple spells a turn it becomes an awesome psuedo-mana rock that I don't have to tap. It's worked wonders for me, allowing me multiple casts of Abhorrent Overlord in a single turn. Doing that is my "combo". When I get some time, I'll explain up in the OP how I like to win. This "combo" would work wonders with infinite mana.

Now as for Unstable Obelisk. It's in here because I have issues removing Enchantments and Arties (Gate to Phyrexian can be a bit slow, but no less useful) and this card allows me to hit those. The mana rock-ness of it isn't a bad thing either.

See, I have run Culling the Weak in an earlier testing version since I came across it. I didn't like it. I'm not a fan of single use mana generators like that. I mean, its cool that it accelerates me a couple of turns, but only once. I like reusable mana. I'll take a look again later as the deck becomes tighter depending on where the deck goes.

Living Death I've been considering, but more decks in my meta would be able to utilize this better than I. I may test it at a later time, but I currently don't want to try it at this time.

The Alter/Stairwell combo is a fun one, I'm just not sure that my deck is built to best utilize it.

As I stated here, I'll post better details of one of my tracks to win. I need a reusable sac outlet (or just any sac outlet), Phyrexian Reclamation, and Abhorrent Overlord. With the large amounts of mana I generate, I just cast, kill, return and recast the overlord. Things start to get silly when I toss Sidisi, Undead Vizier into the mix as my reusable sac outlet. I can generate crazy amounts of 1/1 Flying Harpies when I'm left unchecked. Infinite mana allows me to just do this as many times as I want as well as putting my library into play. Without haste though, I'm weak, but this is not too big a deal. If I do decide to go infinite like this, the Alter/Stairwell combo will most definitely be going in. I just don't want to do the whole "go infinte" thing before the deck is tighter.

I didn't quite get whether combos are ok or not. If they're ok, Ashnod's Altar+Nim Deathmantle does nice stuff with a lot of creatures. Even if it doesn't go infinity, Kokusho/Merchant is neat with those two, and Abhorrent Overlord and some other can easily go infinite.

Apologies. I'll have to add that into the OP. I'm ok with combos, but I'd like to steer away from infinite ones. My meta is not too keen on those and I honestly want to keep the games fun. We already have to deal with a couple of oppressive decks (one being my Nek). I dunno why I hadn't considered the Deathmantle.

All is Dust: I don't own one and I'd rather not wipe my token army until I need to. Really good card though.Spine of Ish Sah: I can't really repeat this one. If i had a sac outlet for it, I might consider it more.Scour from Existence: Less of a pain than Spine. I can at least reuse it if I use it then toss an Eldrazi Titan in the bin. I'm actually considering this one even with it's 7 mana cost.Karn Liberated: The object is not to become a threat. I've seen how the table reacts when this guy hits the field. Don't get me wrong, if I owned one, I'd try to make it work. But I do not so out it stays.

My deck looks terrible (it is really) when I'm playing it. I'm only seen as a threat when it's too late. I'd like to keep it that way. Cards that just scream "Kill me" (player and card) are those that I'd like to avoid as I don't want to be the target. This is meant for multiplayer play so I may ease up on my wanting to make it curve better. With the proper draws (tutors, when i add them) I can jump to the late game rather quickly. I was goldfishing today against a precon and I was generating some 20 mana by turn 6. THis was not a god hand, nor did I see Sidisi, Undead Vizier. I just drew a few cards and began to drop perms with Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx.

Also, I've been considering testing with Swiftfoot Boots and Lightning Greaves to see what that does for me. Dropping an overlord, equipping, attacking then saccing him in the same turn seems like a really strong play. I'd also love to get Magus of the Coffers online faster as well. Thought I still need to concentrate on my deck's focus.

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I did goldfish a bit to just gather some data on cards/deck:Sidisi, Undead Vizier + Nim Deathmantle is the dumbest thing out there. With enough mana and a sac outlet this becomes "4, Sac Sidisi: Sidisi comes into the battlefield". While that seems boring, keep in mind that you can exploit Sidisi to itself. Let that sink in for a bit. It does cost 9 mana to get going the same turn, but that can easily be reached. Yeah, I was able to tutor up my deck. I may consider dropping some of the tutors as getting this going is the start of my complex plan to win.

Casting the Eldrazi titans is fantastic. I recycled my grave by casting then saccing to Ghoulcaller Gisa/Sidisi multiple times.

Due to Nerf Guns, I was unable to play test last week. My play test partner is not at work this week so goldfishing is all I have for now. Things I learned today:

Until I get my "Sidisi Engine" going, I'm just pooping dudes out. The first play I do is Sidisi into Nim Deathmantle to start the engine. Then from there it is creating a mass of either B mana symbols (to Gary them to death) or Tokens. Without Sidisi, Rune-Scarred Demon can carry the banner rather nicely. Which until I get either tutor engine going, my dig and tutor spells are very handy. I may have to up the count on the digging. Though, once i start the tutor engine tutors and card draw are all but dead cards, so I'll refrain from adding any in for now. Just something for me to keep in mind.

Smothering Abomination is meh. It's fantastic when it's in play when my engine is going (constantly saccing no less than 2 critters a turn), but I never want to have it otherwise.

Once my mana doublers are online, Grim Monolith is bad. Outside of that it is still just meh. I will probably replace it with something, just not sure what. Also, I never want to see Bad Moon.

So, my first round of cuts:Bad Moon > Skullclamp: I don't think I need an explanation, but here goes. I like to kill my own stuff. 'Clamp gives me more of an incentive to do so. It is easily abused here. "Oh, i have 8 1/1 harpies? Nah, I've got 16 cards in hand now."Grim Monolith > Lightning Greaves: I'd like to get my tapping critters online a turn sooner sometimes. The Shroud clause is nice too. Keep peeps from killin mah prize critters.
I want to fit Swiftfoot Boots and Scour from Existence in here, I just don't know where. Though, Ula seems to be doing nicely in the "destroy target permanent" slot. Oh and it was suggested I try out Cloudstone Curio to bounce my critters to reuse them.

So I played 3 games with Obby last night. I made a couple of more changes prior to the games... I just don't know what they are right now. I'll pull the deck apart here soon to update the OP and add more thoughts into this. I believe I removed Smothering Abomination for Scour from Existence. I was happy with this change even though i did not use it. Games details will show why. In any case, I did forget to take notes but that's ok, the basics of the games are retained fairly well.

Game 1: Trostani Tokens vs Obby (me)
Before everyone got to the shop, my buddy an I decided to test these 2 decks against each other since we are sure I can outrace him in Token production and maybe keep up in the life department until he gets Phyrexian Processor online. I get a quick start with Mana Crypt, Sol Ring and Crypt Ghast. I even have Nim Deathmantle in play. He drops Trostani, Selesnya's Voice and passes the turn with G/W Shock open. I play my 4th Swamp and drop Overseer of the Damned to kill his Commander and getting a token. I have the mana to cast the Sidisi, Undead Vizier in my hand, but not enough to do that AND Deathmantle the Oversser so I pass the turn. At my EOT he casts Enlightened Tutor to fetch an Aura Shards. He draws and casts the Shards, but misses his land drop so he has 2 mana open and no 2 drop. He passes the turn. I top deck Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre and drop him into play killing Shards. I pass the turn after attacking with Overseer. He drops his 6th land and plays Mirari's Wake (I think he should have played that the turn he played the shards to be able to play shards and 3 drop this turn to kill my Deathmantle) then passes the turn. I Draw and drop Cabal Coffers, netting 14 mana, Casting Sidisi, Exploiting Overseer, and grabbing Ghoulcaller Gisa and dropping her into play. I pass the turn and he drops Trostani and Citanul Hierophants and passes the turn. It is too little too late. I Draw and drop Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth (can generate 18 mana now). Since I don't want any Trostani shenanigans on his turn, I Gisa my Sidisi (making 4x 2/2 Zombies), Deathmantle Sidisi, Exploit Overseer (fetching Phyrexian Reclamation), Deathmantle Overseer killing Trostani (making 2/2 zombie), and cast Abhorrent Overlord making 9x 1/1 Flying Harpies. At this point I can outrace him in token creation and he can't deal with my Flyers. I pass the turn and he drops as many creatures as he can. I take my turn and attack with overseer, Overlord and harpies for 21 damage. I drop Nirkana Revenant for moar manaz. I pass the turn with lots of mana open. He attacks and my zombies muck up the ground. At his EOT I Gisa my Sidisi, Deathmantle my Sidisi, Exploit my Overlord, Deathmantle my overlord to get 11x 1/1 Harpies. I have lethal now and he scoops.

Game 2: Trostani Tokens (TT), Something Angels (SA), 5C super friends (5c), The mimeoplasm (TM) and Obby (Me)
The SA guy.... he really did nothing other than play Ground Seal first turn. Trostoni played Altar of the Brood T1 and just proceeded to fill our graveyards. This game was rather boring after that since No one could really do much. Trostani just milled us while we all would build up a board state, 5c would wipe and we had to start all over. Eventually I removed the Seal with Unstable Obelisk. TM then casts Sepulchral Primordial on his turn (I Haunted Crossroads the critter he wants from me so nothing he gets). But he gets some nice fattys and we all eventually die to him. THis game was slow and boring and all I learned from it was that I'm "weak" to massive amounts of critter removal and stupid enchantments (Ground Seal).

I'll finish up the write ups here either today some time. I at least want to post the above to show what happened during those games. The next 2 played out similarly, but Obby was better set to handle game 2 since i knew what to expect.